1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for heating a biotissue employing a strong light, and more specifically, a relates to a device for heating a biotissue employing a strong light which performs a treatment by a strong light, a such as laser light, for example, by destroying a predetermined biotissue in the brain.
2. Prior Art
Laser light has been applied like a surgical knife to remove tumors and other cancers in the medical field. As thermotherapy can be mentioned a treatment comprising the heating of a biotissue of a tumor and the like, leading the tissue to necrosis in a temperature region before reaching tissue transpiration during the raising of the temperature of the biotissue, and removing the biotissue in the target region.
In thermotherapy, in particular, in the case of once starting transpiration in heating by light, light transmission to a farther inner part is inhibited by a carbonized tissue with a very high absorbance in the neighborhood of an irradiation point, and a rapid temperature rise occurs locally. In the case of performing thermotherapy, such a phenomenon following the transpiration becomes a problem in the following points (1)-(2); for example, if there occurs such an inhibition and transpiration following a temperature rise in the removal of a tumor in the brain, it can have an influence upon a normal tissue around the tumor and cause a fatal functional disorder.
(1) In the case of irradiation in a tissue, a gas generated as a result of transpiration has a high pressure and a high temperature (100xc2x0 C. or more), and oppression may occur to a peripheral tissue by pressure, and thermal influence upon the peripheral tissue by the high-temperature gas, and thermal influence upon the circumference of a flow path in the case of the high-temperature gas exiting.
(2) Since the inner face of the transpiration part is covered with a carbonized tissue, light transmission to a farther inner part is inhibited, and fails to perform heating in a wide range.
Hence, it is the object of the present invention to provide a device for heating a biotissue employing strong light, characterized in that, in thermotherapy comprising accomplishing thermal denaturation by heating a biotissue by the irradiation of a strong light employing a light source, such as laser light, a spatial temperature distribution in vivo is measured at real time, and that the light source is controlled on the basis of the spatial and time-related information to form. a desired temperature distribution at a predetermined and desired region in the biotissue.
The present invention provides a device for heating a biotissue employing strong light, characterized in that, in thermotherapy comprising leading a biotissue to necrosis by heating the biotissue by strong light from a light source, in order to lead a predetermined biotissue to necrosis in a temperature region before reaching tissue transpiration during the raising of the temperature of said biotissue, a temperature measurement is performed by a temperature meter measuring the spatial temperature distribution of the biotissue at real time, and the light output of the light source, the on-time of intermittent irradiation and the off-time of intermittent irradiation are controlled on the basis of the information at real time to accomplish remedial conditions.
In addition, the present invention provides a heating apparatus employing a strong light to be used for the thermal remedy of a biotissue comprising (a) a temperature-measuring device measuring a biotissue requiring treatment and a spatial temperature distribution at its peripheral region at real time, (b) a controlling device controlling the light output of a light source, the time of intermittent irradiation on and the time of intermittent irradiation off at real time by comparing predetermined remedial conditions with a temperature value measured by said temperature-measuring device, (c) a light source emitting a strong light by being controlled by said controlling device, and (d) an optical fiber which is inserted into a living body and introduces said strong light into the biotissue requiring treatment, which is characterized in that the temperature of the biotissue is raised by said strong light and the biotissue requiring treatment is necrotized in a temperature region before resulting in tissue transpiration.